When Chivas USA and the Galaxy get together Sunday evening for their second meeting of the MLS season, a question awaits both clubs.

For the Galaxy: Are they not as good as they thought they were when the season opened?

For Chivas: Are the Goats really that bad?

They are both long-haul questions, to be sure, and the season is not even at the halfway point. But this is the final game before a three-week break from league play so the players can catch the World Cup on television.

Both will be mulling over the fact that at this point, they’ve underachieved.

The Galaxy, with Landon Donovan back in the mix and league MVP candidate Robbie Keane again on a torrid scoring pace, has struggled to a 4-3-4 record. They’re not too concerned with their sixth-place standing in the Western Conference, because they’ve played as many as four fewer games than the teams ahead of them, but what will they do with those games in hand?

“The only disappointing part is we haven’t had the results that we wanted,” Donovan said. “We’ve played well in a number of games, but that doesn’t get you much. The playing well is always good but the thing that matters is the results.

“Conversely, the Chicago game (a 1-1 tie last week) was as ugly a game as you’re going to play in and see, but we got a point out of it and can feel OK about it. We want to play well, we have a team that has good players. It’s enjoyable for us when we play well, but at the end of the day, this is a results business, and we have to get results.”

The Galaxy are still tinkering with their lineup and will continue to do so today with Keane away on international duty for Ireland. They’ve had central defender Leonardo step up with Omar Gonzalez with the U.S. national team and their midfield attack has been strengthened by new acquisition Stefan Ishizaki, but now Coach Bruce Arena is trying to work Robbie Rogers back in the fold.

Then comes Chivas (2-7-4), which has six fewer points than the Galaxy after playing two more games. The club has already gone through an eight-game winless streak and can’t seem to get through a game without a suspension or a red card. Midfielder Oswaldo Minda, a designated player, is on this week’s suspension list after being ejected from last week’s game against Philadelphia.

Chivas has scored 13 goals, second-fewest in the league, and Erick “Cubo” Torres has eight of them.

“Any time getting over the hump when you’re digging yourself out of the ditches is a tough one,” captain and defender Carlos Bocanegra said. “At the moment, you can see throughout the team the confidence is not all there. You make a mistake and it’s like the whole world is on the shoulders a little bit. We need to forget about that and try not to put so much pressure on ourselves and just go out there and play.”

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Coach Wilmer Cabrera said his club is struggling with the details, and those small, overlooked issues have snowballed.

They went into training this week with a slower approach, breaking down their alignment in step-by-step fashion.

And the rivalry — which the Galaxy leads 19-4-6 heading into this showdown as the home team at StubHub Center — figures to help keep their focus.

“The way I look at it right now, one game can change our season,” Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy said. “So we’re going to try and make it this game. For me, what better an opponent? They don’t have Keano, they’re coming off a tough result in Chicago, so they have something to prove and certainly we do too.

“We’re walking through and making sure we’re getting our tactics right for this game. Sometimes that’s just what you need to do, you need to slow the game down and think through it. We’ve definitely done that this week and I expect to see that on the field.”